I Must Be Dreaming
by csiwholocked33
Summary: FEMMESLASH. Sara speeds home, angry and tearful after another domestic abuse case sets her off at work. After a few beers, she falls into a restless sleep, only to dream of the blonde CSI she'd just been arguing with. In her dream, however, they're doing the furthest thing from arguing...


_God, I __**hate**__ her, _Sara thought as she climbed into her navy SUV and turned the key roughly in the ignition. She quickly pulled the car out of the CSI parking garage and sped onto the dim highway, just beginning to light up with the rising dawn. Blinking her heavy-lidded eyes, Sara sighed deeply and began to work herself down from her spot of rage.

Just before the grave shift ended, she'd been having yet another heated argument with Catherine Willows over how she may or may not have overreacted while working on a domestic violence case, but this time instead of snapping back and calling in Grissom or Nicky to moderate, Catherine had taken a deep breath and looked Sara right in her deep chocolate eyes, now brimming with tears she hoped the blonde couldn't see. She had put her hand on Sara's slim, trembling arm and said, with honest worry filling her wide crystalline blues, "Sara, why do cases like this always make you lose it?"

Sara, of course, had done what Sara always has done when someone tries to get too close to those darkened parts of her past that she works overtime to hide and block out entirely: spit back whatever sort of weak retort she could dredge up at the moment and flee. Now she was alone in her car, and she allowed the wetness in her eyes to finally begin to trickle down her pale cheekbones. She didn't want to talk to Catherine about it, or anyone about _it, _not ever. They wouldn't see her the same way. They would pity her, they would think her weak, and Sara was the farthest thing from weak; she was tough as nails, unshatterable… or maybe she was just wonderful at pretending to be.

When the memories of her horrific early childhood began pouring back in, though, she was just as powerless as her little girl self had been to stop the tears from running like a river. It took most every bit of will power she had to not resort to the self-destructive habits she'd picked up to quell these excruciating flashbacks in her days as an ever-transient foster teen, but she'd managed to go without dragging that blade across her skin for almost 5 years now, instead soothing the ache in her heart with too much beer, much too little vacation time from work, and practically constant solitude.

As she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, she felt her breathing begin to even out and wiped quickly at her faintly streaked face. Gathering her courage after her brief break, Sara pulled on a brave face and locked her car behind her as she climbed the stairs up to her third floor apartment. She passed a few others on her way upstairs, but with a practiced quiet smile she rushed past them without anyone noting her reddened eyes. Moments like these made her thankful she didn't wear as much makeup as Catherine or the other women of the lab.

As she entered her apartment and let her bags fall to the floor before flopping, exhausted, onto the gray suede couch in her living room, her mind wandered back to Catherine's concerned face and she tried to recall exactly what makeup the older CSI had been wearing at work today. One beer later, her nimble photographic memory had conjured up a startlingly detailed vision of the dark mascara coating Catherine's long lashes, the subtle shine of champagne hued lip gloss on her full lips, and the faint blush on her cheeks… although maybe that was natural, she thought. After an hour and three more beers, Sara had recreated Catherine Willows in her entirety, from her glistening blonde locks to the alluring curve of her waist, in her mind. When she realized what she was doing, she of course passed off the strange mental activity as her instinct as a CSI; she had simply been memorizing and analyzing, searching for the truth, just as she'd been trained to do so well.

Blinking sharply and consciously redirecting her thoughts, Sara spread her lanky frame out along the length of the couch, kicking her worn work boots into the carpet and stretching her tense limbs. The alcohol lulled her already tired mind quickly into a sound slumber, and she curled over on her side in her sleep, pulling the blanket draped beside her around her strong shoulders. Instead of the nightmares she'd been expecting after pushing back memories of her turbulent childhood years all day, as Sara slept her unconscious self spun another sort of sweeter dream.

_Sara stormed down the hall, away from Catherine, but she could hear foot falls behind her as she sped up. When a careful hand grabbed her by the arm, she considered spitting hateful words back at her as she ripped out of the women's soft grip and continued towards the doors, but before she could so much as turn all the way around and open her mouth to speak, Catherine had taken her by the shoulders and captured Sara's lips with her own in a bruising kiss. Sara was too shocked to retaliate for a few long seconds, simply freezing under the blonde's skilled mouth and letting her watery eyes slide closed. When she finally realized what was happening and pulled back from the other women, Sara remained speechless and unable to think properly, and Catherine took advantage of this rare moment of unawareness and pulled her through the open door of her office. Shutting it behind them, she twisted the lock and lead Sara by a shaking hand over to the loveseat in the opposite corner of the small room._

_The brunette was still crying silently but had finally managed to squeeze out the words "Cath, what…" when Catherine took both of her slender hands in her own and pressed a much softer kiss to the younger women's smooth lips without hesitation. She pulled back and stared into Sara's eyes again as she finally spoke._

_"I'm sorry Sara, but I really care about you, more than you know, and I can't stand to see you always so upset over these domestic abuse cases without ever knowing why. I've felt like I wanted to be… to be… closer to you for quite some time now, and when I saw you crying I just couldn't…" Without her own permission, Sara's hand reached up to caress Catherine's cheek and pulled their faces close again, interrupting her explanation. The gorgeous blonde responded a split second later, taking Sara's face in her own free hand and passionately kissing her back. Sara leaned forward into the kiss, and when her knees collided with the side of Catherine's thigh she stuttered in her movements. Catherine immediately remedied the situation by crawling back towards Sara, whose eyes were growing darker with desire as she breathed audibly, and forcing her back until she was draped over the tall arm of the couch and Catherine was straddling her hips._

_Twirling a finger in the brunette's glossy hair, Catherine whispered, "Sara, do you want this? Is… is this okay?" As she spoke she couldn't help but run one of her deft hands down the other women's slender waist below her, and as her fingertips met the hot bare skin of Sara's lower back she finally stopped herself, but Sara was already stammering an emphatic "God yes Cath," so the blonde's face blossomed into a demure smile as she continued to touch her._

_Eyes locked together, Sara simply stared up at the beautiful face of her co-worker, equal parts astonished and incredibly turned on as the women's hands found their way up her back and around to smooth over her toned stomach beneath her thin top. Moaning softly as her eyes fluttered closed of their own accord, Sara arched into Catherine's expert touch. The blonde CSI let her hips fall to meet Sara's on the couch, and at the unexpected contact the younger women sighed her name and ground herself up towards her. Catherine purred at Sara's reaction, bringing her perfect lips back to hers and pressing her glorious breasts up against Sara's heaving chest._

_When Sara's hands slipped around to pull the curvy women's frame even tighter to her own, Catherine purred out her name repeatedly and began to lick and nibble along her jaw line, up to the extremely sensitive place beneath her earlobe. "Sara, Sara, Sara…"_

Sara was suddenly lying in her living room, sprawled out over her sofa, feeling a firm but gentle hand on her shin. As sleep faded from her consciousness and her vision sharpened, she saw Catherine Willows standing above her, touching her leg hesitantly. She blinked up at the women, who immediately drew back her hand as if her skin had been on fire. Catherine began muttering, and Sara only heard bits and pieces of what she said as she saw the radiant blonde handing Sara her wallet "you left this at work Sara and I…" "I was a little worried about you anyway so I…" "and I heard you call my name through your open window so I just um let myself in and… I'm sorry, I'll go now if you're okay."

And just as so often happens with the most vivid dreams, Sara didn't recall the one she'd just had starring the CSI standing mere inches from her until she met her eyes… and then of course it all flooded back, making little secret parts of Sara's body involuntarily tingle. "I… um… t-thank you Cath, I… did you hear… anything else…? I guess I was sleep talking again, I always do-"

"Yes," Catherine stated matter-of-factly, her eyes adopting a different shine as she spoke. Then the blonde immediately seemed embarrassed with herself and began studying the rug as if it held the secret to teaching Grissom social norms.

Sara's next statement came out in a flurry of quick, quiet syllables. "Thank you for being worried about me earlier. I'm so not used to people caring about me in that way, and I know I freaked out on you… but please know it wasn't you, and thanks for um this..." she held up her wallet and her words trailed into silence awkwardly.

"Oh I know, honey. Don't worry, I'm fine."

When it registered to her inebriated mind that Catherine Willows had just unthinkingly called her "honey," the sleepy brunette was suddenly quite awake, and felt a warming spark run through her spine and out into every bone of her body. Sara decided that it must be the beer, but that Catherine had never looked more astonishingly sexy than she did right this moment, standing close enough to touch and wearing a red body-hugging sweater and sinfully perfect-fitting jeans with her classic leather jacket.

Before she understood what was happening Sara had reached a hand out and around the blonde in an attempt to pull Catherine closer to her, but her not-entirely-in-control arm met the back of the women's knees and succeeded instead in knocking her onto the couch, to fall awkwardly between Sara's long legs. As Catherine arranged herself, inching down the sofa and stuttering out the beginnings of a surprised apology, Sara sat completely upright and slunk across the space between them until she was mere centimeters from the beautiful women's stunned face.

The three or so seconds it took Sara's foggy mind to decide that she would kiss Catherine gave the elder CSI time to prepare herself… or so she thought. Then in a whirl Sara's mouth was over hers, their lips fitting together perfectly and remarkably gently given the beers she could taste on Sara's tongue… _oh God, Sara's tongue… _it was running along her teeth and then over her plump lips and down her chin to lap at the sensitive place between her face and the supple skin of her neck. It took a minute of Sara's exquisitely tender nips and licks down her neck to her clavicle bone for Catherine to regain enough composure to draw back. No matter how fucking _incredible _Sara felt pressed tight up against her, the stormy brunette was drunk, and she cared about her too much to take advantage of her this way.

"Sara, honey, Sara…" Catherine began, flushed and pushing the other women's body lightly away from hers with a tentative hand, "I'm… I'm not sure you know what you're doing right now." Dark, lust-filled eyes stared back at her and gripped the hand she had used to make space between their chests. Sara then lifted Catherine's elegant hand to her lips and proceeded to kiss the soft tip of each finger, right over the fingerprint, watching the blonde the whole time. When she finished with that hand, she grabbed the other and repeated the process, just as slowly and gently. Then she curled Catherine's hands in her own and laid them on the couch between the two women, still linked.

"Sar-," she began, but was interrupted again. "Cath, baby… yeah I'm a little drunk, but see… I'm just drunk enough to finally know… that I want this, really_ really _badly. With _youuu._" Her words were just barely slurred, but the low, growly tone she spoke with still managed to ignite a little flame deep in Catherine's core.

"Sara, will you regret… _this_… in the morning?"

"Only if you l-leave now, and I don't get to finally just kiss you senseless," Sara quickly retorted. _Well, she's aware enough to be her own sharp, sexy as hell self… I guess that's good enough for me, _thought Catherine to herself, relaxing a bit into the couch and moving to take off her leather jacket, as it suddenly felt very _very _hot in this room. Sara smirked, one of her little trademark closed-lipped smiles that secretly made Cath melt, as she dropped the blonde's hands from her own and stretched her long arms across to help her remove her jacket. After peeling the creamy leather off of her together, the two eager women shifted so that Sara was atop Catherine's curvy frame again. Finally deciding to give in to the recurring fantasies that had plagued her since the stunning brunette CSI had first joined the grave shift team, Catherine wrapped her arms around her waist, placing one hand on the small of Sara's back and the other just a little lower, cupping the top of her ass through the jeans she was still wearing from being at work earlier. Sara groaned and bent to kiss her again, catching the other women's lower lip between her teeth and biting down just enough to make Catherine moan back.

After waiting literally for years though, Sara's patience was running quite thin, and after no more than a minute of glorious snogging she already found that she needed more. She drew back from the perfect curves of the women beneath her just enough to fill one of her dexterous hands with the immaculate weight of one of Cath's breasts. Over the top of her v-neck sweater, Sara rubbed her thumb in small circles teasingly, each time dipping a little further until finally the blonde's wonderfully form-fitting clothes seemed to her to be a colossal inconvenience. She tugged, frustrated, at the neckline of her top, until Catherine got the idea and moved to sit upright.

Sara, who was more than ready to speed this whole process up, used that moment to stand up beside the suede couch, rip her own tee shirt and baggy denims off, and toss them to the floor before leaping back onto the now shirtless Catherine. Chuckling and raising one arched golden eyebrow at her haste, the older women remarked "well, I see you're already getting a bit clearer then…"

"Well it's not every day I get to pin Catherine Freaking Willows to my couch and make her beg for mercy," replied Sara hotly, with a wink that said that yes, she was feeling infinitely clearer already, and she was indeed intending to fuck her right there and then. The bemused grin on Catherine's pretty face faded quickly into a look of awe and intense lust at Sara's words, and she decided it was time to take matters into her own hands for a moment. Pulling Sara down to her as if to return to the position they'd been in beforehand, she paused to savor the warm skin of her stomach against Sara's torso for only a second before flipping them over and straddling the younger CSI, a predatory glint suddenly ringing in her blue eyes.

"Oh honey, I'm not sure you know just what it is you're getting into…," she drawled, low and sultry as she met Sara's focused gaze. Catherine leaned down as if to kiss her lips again, but instead brushed her own gently up Sara's cheek bone before settling millimeters from her ear.

"I'm not usually the one doing the begging," she finished, purring into the brunette's eardrum. At Sara's answering whimper, she lapped at her earlobe and traced her cartilage with her tongue before finally pushing her tongue further into the younger CSI's ear.

Catherine felt hot and rich and wet inside her, and between Sara's little moans of shocked ecstasy, she wondered aloud why the fuck she'd never known how delightfully sensitive her ears were. Cath giggled a bit at hearing Sara's mumbling, before suddenly biting down, hard, on her earlobe.

"Mmmf… Oh God, Cath…"

"Oh Sweetheart, I know," the blonde answered, and after giving that ear a few more rough licks and nibbles, she turned her attention to the other one. Before she could move her face to the opposite side of Sara's, though, she felt insistent hands on her own cheeks as she was dragged fiercely down to meet the other women's lips. For being still a bit drunk, Sara's kisses were surprisingly coordinated, and she felt a wonderful tickling sensation run up her back when firm hands wrapped around to press on the small of her back. Sara pulled Catherine's whole body down to hers, feeling the sweet press of soft curves on her own and breathily sighing. Catherine found herself face-to-face with not an ear, but the dark lace of Sara's bra.

Without hesitation, she drew her lips teasingly across the top of one glorious small breast. She then proceeded to slip her tongue underneath the cup and down to circle a dark nipple. Sara's eyes fluttered shut, and after a moment she arched up unto Cath's mouth and unsuccessfully grabbed and pulled at her own bra straps. Snickering at her wantonness, the blonde beauty reached around her slim form to unclip the black lace confection and let it fall to the floor unceremoniously. When her mouth connected with the brunette's nipple this time, the responding groan was even louder, and she lingered there for long enough to torture the lovely women, teething at the now hardened bud between soothing kisses and swipes of her deft tongue.

Frustrated beyond rational thought at the presence of Catherine's sexy-as-hell red satin bra between herself and the glorious breasts encased below, as soon as her nipple was freed from the blonde women's lips Sara quickly unclasped her bra. She stared in awe for a moment at the rosy pink buds atop the gorgeous mounds laid out before her. Taking one in each of her hands, Sara massaged and pinched at her breasts, goaded on by Cath's delicious moaning sounds.

When Catherine bucked her hips up, the warmth between Sara's thighs became too much to ignore.

"Bedroom...?" she mumbled, brushing light patterns across the blonde's sensitive stomach and making her shiver.

"Mmhmmmm." They stumbled back down the hall hand in hand, Sara's bra flinging off somewhere along the way.

And then Sara was on her back, pressed hard to her bed, a smirking Catherine crawling up her body as she held her down with one elegant hand. She grazed her fingers teasingly up Sara's inner thighs. The brunette whinged and muttered something.

"What was that, darling?"

"Cath... Cath, baby pleeeease..."

"Oh so now we're not afraid to beg, love?" Catherine chuckled and continued her gentle torture, but had apparently underestimated how serious Sara's plea had been. The lovely dark CSI grabbed her right hand without hesitation and guided it to push at the front of her panties, which were absolutely soaked.

"Ohh...," the blonde women moaned at that, finally giving up her game and surrendering to their mutual desire.

Quickly slipping her hand up to pull down the damp lace, Catherine took no time slipping two fingers into her slick heat. Sara arched up in pleasure, practically keening at the much needed friction. The blonde soon lowered her mouth and lapped at the tense bud of pink nerves, circling it with her tongue and sucking it between her lips every now and then. After a matter of seconds, Sara came with a broken cry of Catherine's name, her insides contracting and then trembling around the older women's knuckles.

Taking little to no time to recover, Sara immediately flipped Cath over and found her way under her satin thong. She placed wet kisses along the length of the blonde's sex before pushing a few fingers inside. As before, it was over quickly; Catherine shattered under her body with an incredibly sensual grunt, breathing hard.

For a moment afterwards, they simply lay there, catching their breath and loving the feel of each others' heaving breasts and supple stomachs pressed close. Cath gathered her courage and broke the silence. "Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"Why haven't we done that before?" Sara chuckled softly, rolling off of her and bringing the blonde beauty's head to rest on her chest.

"I have no idea, Catherine… but if you're up for it, I'd love to do it much more often from now on," she answered, kissing her forehead as the blonde snuggled closer to her side. The pair fell asleep there, atop the covers, bare and sweat-sheened and happier than they thought they could be, hand in hand and curled around each other.


End file.
